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The World Almanac is a Bestseller Despite Security Warnings
With the holiday shopping season complete, The World Almanac book has once again proven its credibility as a favorite amongst shoppers, despite an FBI bulletin (issued on Christmas Eve!) "warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs." (This according to the Associated Press.)Well, the good old Almanac earned the #1 ranking on the New York Times Book Best Seller List of “Paperback Advice” books anyway:
PAPERBACK ADVICE
Top 5 at a Glance
1. THE WORLD ALMANAC AND BOOK OF FACTS 2004
2. DR. ATKINS' NEW DIET REVOLUTION, by Robert C. Atkins
3. 30-MINUTE MEALS 2, by Rachael Ray
4. THE OLD FARMER'S ALMANAC 2004.
5. 30-MINUTE MEALS: GET TOGETHERS, by Rachael Ray
To start the New Year (and to show there are no hard feelings), here are some fun January facts, courtesy of the The World Almanac E-Newsletter, Volume 4, Number 1 - January 2004
January Events
January 8-11 - Elvis Presley Birthday Celebration (Graceland, Memphis, TN)
January 14-17 - Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition (Rockford, IL)
January 15-18 - Icebox Days XXIII (International Falls, MN)
January 15-22 - International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo (Monaco)
January 15-25 - Florida Citrus Festival (Winter Haven, FL); Sundance Film Festival (Park City, UT)
January 16-18 - Art Deco Weekend (Miami Beach, FL)
January 17-18 - 20th Annual Kid Film Festival (Dallas, TX)
January 18 - Houston Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5K; San Diego Marathon and Half Marathon (Carlsbad, CA)
January 19-25 - Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (La Quinta, CA)
January 19-February 1 - Australian Open tennis tournament
January 22-February 8 - Saint Paul (MN) Winter Carnival
January 23-25 - Big Band/Swing Dance Weekend (Asheville, NC)
January 24 - Golden Dragon Parade (Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA)
January 24-25 - Blue Spring Manatee Festival (Orange City, FL)
January 25 - Golden Globe Awards (Beverly Hills, CA)
January 28-February 1 - Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities (Eatonville, FL)
January 30-February 8 - Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo (Rapid City, SD); Ontario Winter Carnival Bon Soo (Sault Ste. Marie)
January 30-February 15 - Quebec Winter Carnival
January 31-February 1 - Canada Fest (Hollywood, FL); World Championship Shovel Races (Angel Fire, NM)
January Holidays
January 1 - New Year's Day; Saint Basil's Day
January 2 - Berchtoldstag (Switzerland)
January 5 - Twelfth Night
January 6 - Armenian Christmas; Epiphany; Three Kings Day
January 18 - Tu B'Shevat; Pooh Day
January 19 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 22 - Chinese New Year
January 26 - Australia Day; Republic Day (India)
This Day in History - January
01 1994 The North American Free Trade Agreement takes effect.
02 1992 Russia lifts state price controls on most goods and services--a major economic reform.
03 1777 George Washington defeats the British under Lord Cornwallis at Princeton, NJ.
04 1965 In his State of the Union message, Pres. Lyndon Johnson outlines the Great Society program.
05 1925 In Wyoming, Nellie Tayloe Ross is inaugurated as the nation's first woman governor.
06 1912 New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th state.
07 1789 The first U.S. presidential election is held, with George Washington the winner.
08 1982 A 13-year-old suit brought by the Justice Dept. against AT&T is settled when the company agrees to give up its 22 local "Baby Bells."
09 1945 In World War II, U.S. troops invade Luzon to begin their final push to retake the Philippines.
10 1984 The United States resumes full diplomatic relations with the Vatican after more than 100 years.
11 1935 Aviator Amelia Earhart begins a flight from Honolulu to Oakland, CA, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean.
12 1945 In World War II, Soviet forces launch a huge offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe.
13 1898 Emile Zola's J'accuse, defending Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, is published in Paris.
14 1794 Operating on his wife, Dr. Jesse Bennett of Virginia performs the first successful Caesarean section.
15 1559 Queen Elizabeth I is crowned in England.
16 2001 Pres. Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is shot and killed in the presidential palace by a bodyguard.
17 1950 In Boston, masked bandits rob Brinks, Inc., of $2.8 million, $1.2 million of it in cash.
18 1912 The expedition of England's Robert F. Scott reaches the South Pole, then discovers that Ronald Amundsen got there first.
19 1966 Indira Gandhi is elected prime minister of India.
20 1981 Minutes after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days are released.
21 1976 The supersonic Concorde makes its first flight between Britain and France.
22 1901 Britain's Queen Victoria dies after ruling for more than 63 years.
23 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to receive an MD degree.
24 1978 The Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 falls from space, most of it burning up over northern Canada.
25 1959 The first transcontinental flight occurs, on an American Airlines 707 nonstop from California to New York.
26 2001 An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale strikes the Indian state of Gujurat, killing more than 20,000 people.
27 1967 Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee die when fire breaks out on Apollo I while it is on the ground during a simulation test at Cape Kennedy, FL.
28 1871 France surrenders in the Franco-Prussian War.
29 1861 Kansas is admitted to the Union as the 34th state.
30 1948 Mohandas Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu fanatic in New Delhi, India.
31 1950 Pres. Harry Truman authorizes production of the H-bomb.
Born This Day - January
01 1919 J. D. Salinger, author (New York, NY)
02 1942 Henry Hugh Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Speed, NC)
03 1945 Stephen Stills, singer/songwriter/musician (Dallas, TX)
04 1943 Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian and TV commentator (Rockville Centre, NY)
05 1946 Diane Keaton, actress (Santa Ana, CA)
06 1955 Rowan Atkinson, comedian/actor (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England)
07 1976 Eric Gagne, baseball player (Montreal, Canada)
08 1937 Shirley Bassey, singer (Cardiff, Wales)
09 1951 Crystal Gayle, country singer (Paintsville, KY)
10 1935 Sherrill Milnes, opera singer (Downers Grove, IL)
11 1960 Stanley Tucci, actor (Katonah, NY)
12 1982 Dontrelle Willis, baseball player (Oakland, CA)
13 1961 Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress (New York, NY)
14 1919 Andy Rooney, TV commentator (Albany, NY)
15 1908 Edward Teller, physicist (Budapest, Hungary)
16 1974 Kate Moss, model (London, England)
17 1926 Moira Shearer, ballerina (Scotland)
18 1931 Chun Doo Hwan, South Korean president (Naechonri, Korea)
19 1920 Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, former UN secretary general (Lima, Peru)
20 1956 Bill Maher, TV personality (Rivervale, NJ)
21 1947 Jill Eikenberry, actress (New Haven, CT)
22 1932 Piper Laurie, actress (Detroit, MI)
23 1944 Rutger Hauer, actor (Breukelen, Netherlands)
24 1960 Nastassja Kinski, actress (Berlin, West Germany)
25 1919 Edwin Newman, TV journalist (New York, NY)
26 1958 Ellen DeGeneres, actress (Metairie, LA)
27 1979 Rosamund Pike, actress (London England)
28 1929 Claes Oldenburg, artist/sculptor (Stockholm, Sweden)
29 1918 John Forsythe, actor (Penns Grove, NJ)
30 1934 Tammy Grimes, actress (Lynn, MA)
31 1971 Minnie Driver, actress (London, England)